


Breaking the Habit

by Miicah



Series: Westallen Week 2 - 2015 [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2015-10-23
Packaged: 2018-04-27 16:39:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5056015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miicah/pseuds/Miicah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things you just can't quit cold turkey. (And maybe, deep down, you just never want to stop.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breaking the Habit

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Westallen Week 2, Day 2: Sleepovers ~~or Leaving for College~~
> 
> Takes place after the deleted scene in the Pilot episode, where Iris had gone to the farm crime scene.

“This isn’t really necessary,” Barry said, rubbing the back of his neck as he watched Iris unlock the door to his apartment.

“You went from being in a coma to ending up at a shoot-out at a farm in the span of one day,” Iris countered, waving her best friend in and walking in after him, closing the door behind her. “ _Less than_ , even. Something tells me it is.”

Well, he couldn’t argue that things went from zero to a hundred in a flash—no pun intended (well, maybe a little bit). “But a babysitter, Iris, really?” Not that he didn’t want Iris to spend the night (or was it day?), he just didn’t exactly imagine it under these circumstances.

“If I wanted to baby-sit you, I’d have made you come home to dad’s house. At least you get to be in your own place. Have you even come back here since you woke up?”

Now that he thought about it, the speedster didn’t believe he did. His first stop was the West house, entering with the spare key they always kept in one of the planters near the door, hoping to find Iris there. When he didn’t, he changed into some clothes he had left behind there and went straight to Jitters, knowing she’d be there if she wasn’t home. And then his powers happened and…he just never got the chance to until now.

“I’m surprised I still  _have_  a place,” Barry thought aloud as he really took the time to take it all in, running a hand over a table and finding there was no dust.

Iris hung her jacket before standing back and watching him wander around—a tiny part of her used to wonder if she’d ever be able to see him wake up again, let alone move around like this, and it was still a little surreal when she allowed herself to stop and think about it. “We were very optimistic that you’d wake up at any second, so when weeks turned into months I took up paying your rent. And since I dropped by every one in a while, I ended up cleaning, too.”

She didn’t elaborate as to why she came over knowing no one was there, and despite the obvious of making it look like someone still lived there for appearances sake, Barry had a feeling it was more than that—mostly because it was something he would’ve done had their positions been reversed. He remembered seeing the hundreds of missed calls from Iris when she gave him back his phone (she didn’t have the heart to at least cancel that because his voicemail was the only way she could hear his voice)—instead of saying anything, Barry had pulled her into an embrace instead, to which she was internally grateful for.

“I think your neighbours think I’m your maid now. One of them tried to hire me.” The two of them shared a laugh, and she shrugged as if saying, ‘What you gonna do?’ “There’s no food in the fridge, though, so we’ll have to go shopping tomorrow…” The barista paused, glancing at the sunlight peeking through the curtains. Right, it was past dawn when they left the crime scene. “…Later today.”

Though his heart swelled at hearing that she’d not only sleep over, but stick around long enough after to actually get groceries with him, the forensic scientist felt  ** _terrible_** that Iris not only suffered all these months, but was still willing to go out of her way to help him even now that he was awake again. “Iris…I…you’ve already done so much for me, I can’t ask you do any more. And I mean,” he swallowed, having to force himself to continue, “I’m sure Eddie wants you around.”

Iris rolled her eyes at him as she approached, knocking him with her shoulder when she was beside him. “Hey, don’t you know by now that I do what I want? And technically, you didn’t actually ask me, so…” She smiled at him and he grinned back when he realized that was true. “And this isn’t about Eddie. He knows what a huge part you have in my life.” Though even if it was about her boyfriend, he had a ton of paperwork to do on that farm case, plus there was the whole ‘her dad doesn’t know about us’ bit that would make staying over at his place a little suspicious. But she knew Joe would know she was with Barry when he came home to an empty house later and probably not bat an eye at it.

Biting her bottom lip as she battled internally about whether or not to say what was on her mind, the barista settled onto his couch and Barry followed suit, sensing something important coming. “Actually, it’s got a lot to do about me.” At his encouraging look, Iris let out a deep breath and continued. “I’ve spent the last nine months falling asleep at your side, Bar. It’s…kinda hard to break the habit cold turkey.” She laughed, a little embarrassed, and she played with her fingers. “I’ve had dreams like this, where you’d wake up, only to find out it was all in my head.” Iris paused, before whispering, “Part of me is still waiting to wake up.”

Barry felt his heart break, and he pulled Iris into a tight hug that he didn’t let go of, not that she was complaining, as she placed her head on his chest, comforted by the constant beating. After a while, he cleared his throat, hoping it’d clear up how choked up he was. “Okay, well, that settles it,” he said, and Iris pulled away enough to look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Settles what?”

“I wasn’t going to allow you to sleep on the couch to begin with, but now it’s definitely not happening.”

“I’m not—” She started, but Barry finished her sentence before she could.

“Going to let  _me_  sleep on the couch, either, I know—”

“Or the floor, or a chair,” Iris added, knowing that was going to be his backups.

“Ditto,” the speedster confirmed. “So I guess we’re sharing a bed. Um, platonically, of course. I mean—”

Iris laughed and pushed on his chest to stop him from rambling before he dug himself into a hole he couldn’t get out of. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time they shared a bed, though they mostly did it when they were kids. “I get it.”

Barry smiled sheepishly before it faded away and he looked at her seriously, cupping her face with both of his hands. “When you wake up this time, I’ll still be here, not in a coma, probably hanging off the side of the bed snoring. I promise.”

Chocolate brown eyes looked into his, searching for a lie but finding none, and she nodded wordlessly, the action letting loose a tear out of many that had been gathering since she started her explanation, one that her best friend wiped away with a thumb. Iris laughed, then, at his description of how she’d find him when she woke up—she wouldn’t be surprised—and soon Barry was laughing at himself, too. With that, they went to get changed (Iris borrowing some of his clothes) before they climbed into bed and fell asleep.

And as promised, Barry indeed was still there when Iris woke up several hours later, definitely snoring but hanging off of her instead of the edge of the bed.

She found that didn’t mind he was wrong about that part, and she closed her eyes fell back to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my [tumblr](http://unleashwithin.tumblr.com/post/130153672581/breaking-the-habit), but I'm trying to post them everywhere now, yay!


End file.
